Published: Sunday, May 5, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 8:48 p.m.

Jerri Ruckman pulled her minivan between orange cones at Jackson Park Saturday morning. She climbed out, got her two children out of the back and watched as experts tinkered with her kids' car seats.

Safe Kids Western North Carolina and MOMS Club of Hendersonville hosted the safety event. The idea came from MOMS Club member Tamara Betteridge. As she sat in car lines waiting on her children, Betteridge watched how children were put into cars.

She began to think about safety, and said driving distance doesn't negate the safety of children.

“The most accidents happen right around your home,” she said.

Betteridge reached out to the Hendersonville Fire Department and was put in touch with Safe Kids. The event snowballed from there. Betteridge, other club members, members of Safe Kids and members of the fire department set up shop at Jackson Park to help ease parents' safety concerns.

By the end of the day, the group had secured 15 cars. They replaced one car seat and dealt with issues in others.

Beverly Hopps, an educator with Safe Kids, said 80 percent of car seats tend to have some type of misuse.

Vickie Killough, of Safe Kids, is what local firefighters call a “guru” in the field of child safety with her expertise in car seats. It was Killough who was not only securing the car seats, but helping parents learn how to put them in correctly.

“As a parent, you do the best you can, but you don't realize how complicated it is,” she said.

That sentiment was echoed by Ruckman, who was thrilled to have the experts take a look at her seats. New cars and new laws on the books make it complicated, she said.

<p>Jerri Ruckman pulled her minivan between orange cones at Jackson Park Saturday morning. She climbed out, got her two children out of the back and watched as experts tinkered with her kids' car seats.</p><p>Safe Kids Western North Carolina and MOMS Club of Hendersonville hosted the safety event. The idea came from MOMS Club member Tamara Betteridge. As she sat in car lines waiting on her children, Betteridge watched how children were put into cars.</p><p>She began to think about safety, and said driving distance doesn't negate the safety of children.</p><p>“The most accidents happen right around your home,” she said.</p><p>Betteridge reached out to the Hendersonville Fire Department and was put in touch with Safe Kids. The event snowballed from there. Betteridge, other club members, members of Safe Kids and members of the fire department set up shop at Jackson Park to help ease parents' safety concerns.</p><p>By the end of the day, the group had secured 15 cars. They replaced one car seat and dealt with issues in others.</p><p>Beverly Hopps, an educator with Safe Kids, said 80 percent of car seats tend to have some type of misuse.</p><p>Vickie Killough, of Safe Kids, is what local firefighters call a “guru” in the field of child safety with her expertise in car seats. It was Killough who was not only securing the car seats, but helping parents learn how to put them in correctly.</p><p>“As a parent, you do the best you can, but you don't realize how complicated it is,” she said.</p><p>That sentiment was echoed by Ruckman, who was thrilled to have the experts take a look at her seats. New cars and new laws on the books make it complicated, she said.</p><p>“It's extremely important,” she added. “It's always good to double check.”</p>